Baltimore Co. Cops Stop Community College Classroom Fight from Escalating into Shooting

A fight escalated rather quickly on Wednesday night at the Owings Mills campus of the Community College of Baltimore County. Fortunately, police were there to stop it just before a gun could have been drawn.

Baltimore County police officers showed up at the campus just after 7 p.m. on Wednesday for a report of a classroom altercation. Apparently, a fight had broken out after a 20-year-old student asked his instructor a question; his classmate, 27-year-old Kenneth Sharp jumped into the conversation and called him an obscenity, police said. The pair began arguing; then came pushing, then punching.

After another instructor jumped in to separate them, they attempted to remove Sharp from the classroom, but he came back in and pushed his classmate again before being removed a second time a campus security officer. Before he exited, Sharp allegedly told the 20-year-old he would go grab a gun from his car and shoot him in the parking lot, according to police.

He wasn’t kidding about the gun. Police say he came back into the building after officers arrived, holding a duffle bag with a rifle inside. In his pockets, authorities found a loaded clip and ammunition.

Sharp was charged with first- and second-degree assault, possession of a dangerous weapon on school property and use of a firearm in commission of a violent crime. Court records don’t list an attorney with his name.

He’s being held without bail and is set to appear in court in Towson on Dec. 29.

Ethan has been editing and reporting for Baltimore Fishbowl since fall of 2016. His previous stops include Fox 45, CQ Researcher and Connection Newspapers in Northern Virginia. His freelance writing has been featured in Baltimore City Paper, Leafly, DCist and BmoreArt, among other outlets. He enjoys basketball, humid Mid-Atlantic summers and story tips.